Kaveny on Humanae Vitae

Cathleen Kaveny has a post up at Commonweal about the post-Humanae Vitae theological environment. Actually, she is really writing about the ecclesial environment as much as the theological one, touching on what remains one of the most difficult challenges facing the Church - how to have an "entre nous" conversation in a world where everything is public? I confess I do not know how to square the circle, but I know that it must be done. Here is the money quote:

Obviously, those who dissent from Humanae Vitae have cause to lament this state of affairs. But those who support church teaching also have reason to be worried, because it encourages a type of compartmentalization that is fundamentally foreign to the Catholic tradition. If people are not encouraged to reflect on their normative commitments in a holistic manner, they tend to segregate them from one another. They put the church in one box, marriage and family life in another. Catholics who compartmentalize their moral commitments risk isolating themselves from the considerable wisdom of the tradition on matters of sex, love, and embodiment. A church that encourages such compartmentalization is hardly catholic. How can that kind of church interpret the complexities of our world? How can it avoid being seen as one more commitment among many others, just something to do for an hour on Sundays?

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